(Minghui.org) I have practiced Falun Dafa with my mother since I was young, which has been more than 20 years. Although there have been times when I was not diligent and did not do well, I never doubted my strong faith in the Fa and Master.
After Master recently published two new articles, “Stay Far Away From Peril” and “Cultivation in Dafa Is Serious,” my mother said, “Master has published two new articles. Master’s words are very serious! The time left for us is limited. In the end, it is not just about selecting good people, but also about practitioners!” My heart trembled when I read Master’s scriptures, as my cultivation state was sometimes good and sometimes bad. My mother usually called me a “big lazy cat” because I could not break through laziness and do the three things well. So as soon as I heard about unqualified Dafa practitioners, my heart was pounding.
I read Master’s two articles and truly realized the seriousness of cultivation. I measured my thoughts and actions against Master’s articles, and suddenly felt ashamed that I had not lived up to the title of a Dafa practitioner. I thought I was not worthy of what Master was suffering.
Master said:
“The Fa-rectification of the universe has arrived at the end times, and after this period is over, there will be a serious selection and elimination process. Look out for yourself!” (“Stay Far Away From Peril”)
In “Cultivation in Dafa Is Serious,” Master said:
“As to where you will end up, you look out for yourself!”
Master mentioned “look out” in both of these two articles. I realized we can no longer slack off.
My mother was recently experiencing symptoms of illness karma for about a month, suffering from stomach and back pain. She had the same symptoms two years ago. Back then, it was more severe; she vomited after eating anything. However, my mother broke through it back then with her righteous thoughts and actions. This time, the symptoms have lasted quite a long time. It seems that my mother doesn’t have adequate righteous thoughts and is just passively enduring it. Whenever she felt uncomfortable, she stayed in bed. She listened to Master’s Fa recordings instead of reading the Fa.
Whenever I saw my mother like this, I immediately started to urge her, “Are you feeling better?” “Hurry up and do the exercises! It can help you break through the issue!” “Quick, send forth righteous thoughts!” “Study the Fa more, you’ve studied too little.”
I had attachments to my mother that I hadn’t eliminated, and I became anxious. Instead of encouraging her with righteous thoughts as a fellow practitioner, I complained about her slacking off using a harsh tone. I also developed negative thoughts because several fellow practitioners in our area had suddenly passed away during the past two years.
After reading Master’s new articles, we both realized the seriousness of cultivation and repaying karmic debt. Because my mother had overcome great tribulations with righteous thoughts in the past, we thought she would also pass the problem this time quickly. Therefore, we slacked off. Now, my mother’s slacking off aroused my fear. I was physically and mentally exhausted.
Every hardship arises because we didn’t do well and allowed the old forces to exploit our loopholes. We can improve in cultivation if we can get through the challenging times. If we cannot handle them well, no matter whether the symptoms are severe or not, it could cost us our lives.
We also understood that although we endure great pain on the surface, in reality Master bears 1,000 or even 10,000 times more for us. Master is also competing with the evil for Dafa practitioners. We must not let Master down, as he is going to great lengths for us.
After realizing all this, my mother and I reread the articles. This time, we found an even more frightening and shocking hidden attachment that was hard to detect! It was hidden resentment towards Master!
When I read the articles for the first time, I wondered if something significant had happened abroad. Why would fellow practitioners complain about Master? Master has endured so much for us, so how could anyone complain about Master? But then I thought, if it were a minor issue, Master wouldn’t have seriously addressed all Dafa practitioners worldwide. So I looked inward and found that I too held hidden resentment! For example, when I encountered difficulties in life, I thought, “I’ve been doing pretty well recently, and I’ve been sending forth righteous thoughts quite often, so why am I still facing this issue? Why isn’t it going smoothly?”
I wondered if my mother had done as she said—has she had done all the three things: studying the Fa, sending righteous thoughts, and clarifying the truth about Dafa? I wondered why her health still hadn’t gotten better. Now that I think about it, these thoughts were not correct. We studied the Fa, did the exercises, and sent forth righteous thoughts to solve problems, rather than doing them as our mission. If I looked deeper I realized that I did not believe in Master and the Fa enough, and upon digging even deeper, I found that I complained about Dafa and Master! It was as if we were doing Master’s work, and if we did the job, Master would not have to solve the problem for us.
After I shared my thoughts with my mother, she cried out of shame.
Master said:
“Therefore, I am telling those of you who are not genuinely cultivating and those who have become resentful after failing to pass tests in cultivation: Cultivation practice is to cultivate yourself. Everything you do, including what you do in clarifying the truth as well as the persecution you endure, is a process of cultivation and something that must be done, and being forcibly persecuted by the old forces is also caused by the karma you have. None of this is done for Dafa, nor is it done for Master, but rather, it’s because you have a karmic debt that the old forces have something to grab onto.” (“Stay Far Away From Peril”)
We have been cultivating in Dafa for more than 20 years, and benefiting from what Master has been enduring for more than 20 years! So why are we still doubting Dafa and complaining about Master? Considering Master’s compassion and suffering, I am deeply ashamed of all this! I’m glad I realized these inappropriate feelings in time. I hastily eliminated my attachments and human notions, and told myself to guard my mind and not give the evil the slightest chance to take advantage of it!
I also realized that I can no longer indulge my laziness. I wrote down my superficial understanding of this issue in my cultivation and hope that fellow practitioners like me can keep in mind the seriousness of cultivation!
I hope that given our limited time we still can help each other and make progress. With a grateful heart, we can walk the path Master has arranged for us without any hesitation.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: Improving Oneself